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A review by shelleyjld
To Seduce a Witch's Heart by Nadine Mutas
4.0
The relationship between these two characters is both hot and adorable. Their internal angst and outward banter is very touching and is what kept me reading.
I would have stopped reading if that relationship wasn’t there because:
1. This is a Rom Com love-at-first-sight fairy tale set in a horror story background. The relationship does not fit the world in which it is set.
2. The sister, Maeve, whose kidnapping sets our plot in motion, is a MacGuffin. We know very little about her and her role is solely to move the characters toward a goal, forcing them to remain together so that we can see them have sex and fall in love.
3. The side characters, especially the Elders and the villain, are so underdeveloped that they might as well have called them “Side Character” or they could have numbered them. There was no emotional investment in Merle’s life outside of Rhun because her relationship with Rhun is the only thing that gets significant development.
4. Eating children, flaying people alive, torturing by slicing them up. These are the things that happen in the world of this story. It is so at odds with the mushy love story at the center. It’s like taking a Disney couple and dropping them into a film noir and yelling ACTION. It’s jarring.
5. I have to return to this: The MacGuffin is her sister. Her sister is out getting tortured and Merle is having sex and falling in love. It is just so wrong to enjoy the love story when you know the sister is being hurt. However, the fact that they barely discuss the sister and make zero progress to finding her throughout the book is what makes it tolerable to keep going.
So I love the relationship but hate the story.
I would have stopped reading if that relationship wasn’t there because:
1. This is a Rom Com love-at-first-sight fairy tale set in a horror story background. The relationship does not fit the world in which it is set.
2. The sister, Maeve, whose kidnapping sets our plot in motion, is a MacGuffin. We know very little about her and her role is solely to move the characters toward a goal, forcing them to remain together so that we can see them have sex and fall in love.
3. The side characters, especially the Elders and the villain, are so underdeveloped that they might as well have called them “Side Character” or they could have numbered them. There was no emotional investment in Merle’s life outside of Rhun because her relationship with Rhun is the only thing that gets significant development.
4. Eating children, flaying people alive, torturing by slicing them up. These are the things that happen in the world of this story. It is so at odds with the mushy love story at the center. It’s like taking a Disney couple and dropping them into a film noir and yelling ACTION. It’s jarring.
5. I have to return to this: The MacGuffin is her sister. Her sister is out getting tortured and Merle is having sex and falling in love. It is just so wrong to enjoy the love story when you know the sister is being hurt. However, the fact that they barely discuss the sister and make zero progress to finding her throughout the book is what makes it tolerable to keep going.
So I love the relationship but hate the story.